Syracuse Football: Speedy 4-star wide receiver, return man mapping out ‘Cuse visit

Vernell Brown III, an explosive 2025 four-star wide receiver and return man who is also a top-250 national prospect in his class, is eying a visit in the near future to Syracuse football, according to a national recruiting analyst.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Brown, who hails from Florida, just in recent days dropped a top 11 that features the Orange, along with Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee and UCF.

That’s some intense competition for the new ‘Cuse coaching staff, led by head coach Fran Brown. They offered a scholarship to Vernell Brown III in late January, per his X page.

Still, for Syracuse football to make his list of finalists, when the ‘Cuse only offered him in recent weeks and he has amassed more than 40 scholarship offers throughout his recruiting process, is encouraging for the Orange’s chances to prevail for Brown.

Syracuse football is likely to get a visit soon from four-star athlete Vernell Brown III.

In a recent article, 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong spoke with Brown’s dad about his son’s recruitment. Brown’s dad says that his son “feels like the top priority” for numerous of his finalists, including the Orange.

Wiltfong writes in part that Brown and his family are “navigating spring visits which will include a trip up to Ohio State, they’re getting one on the books for Syracuse and of course they’re going to hit the in-state programs.”

As I noted in another recent column, according to national analysts, Brown communicates regularly with ‘Cuse coaches. Chad Simmons, the director of recruiting at On3, added in a story, “Head coaches from every one of his (Brown’s) top programs except for Clemson and Tennessee visited his high school in January.”

Brown, as a junior, put forth a tremendous 2023 season as a standout for Jones High School in Orlando, Fla. An excellent wide receiver and kick-off/punt returner, he tallied 1,404 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns through the air, as well as 16 total scores and more than more than 2,000 all-purpose yards.

Andrew Ivins, the director of scouting at 247Sports, recently published an intriguing evaluation of Brown that can be seen under his bio on that recruiting service’s Web site.

Numerous recruiting services, within the 2025 cycle, rank Brown in the top 250 overall, the top 40 at wide receiver and the top 40 in the talent-rich state of Florida.

Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and 247Sports also rate him in the top 15 nationwide as a multi-positional athlete within the junior class.

When discussing what his son is looking for in a future collegiate home, Brown’s dad said to Wiltfong, “The biggest thing to him is the people first and foremost. Those are the people you’re around every day. Development, putting him in position to accomplish his goal on Sunday. That’s extremely important to him. The development on and off the field. Those are the three key pieces. The people in the building, how they plan to use him to accomplish his goal on Sunday and the development on and off the field.”